Venus Williams advances in Miami tourney

MIAMI, March 22 (UPI) -- Venus Williams swept Ukraine's Yuliana Fedak in straight sets Thursday to move on to the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open in soggy Miami.

The unseeded Williams scored a 7-5, 6-2 win and will face Russia's Maria Kirilenko in Round 2 of the tourney that she has won three times in the past.

Serena Williams has a first-round bye and will take on Russian Anastassia Rodionova in the second round.

Other winners in Thursday's rain-shortened women's bracket included Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan, who moves on to face Maria Sharapova, and Emilie Loit.